Process of producing textile materials and product thereof



Patented Sept. 11, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT? OFFICE PROCESS OFPRODUCING TEXTILE MA- TERIALS AND PRODUCT THEREOF Camille Dreyfus, NewYork, N. Y., and William Whitehead,

Cumberland,

MIL, aasignora to Celanese Corporation of America, a corporation ofDelaware No Drawing. Application June 15, 1920,

Serial No. 371,293

ployed for all purposes to which stiif fabrics are,

put. Another object of our invention is to pre- 10 pare fabrics whichmay be molded under heat and/ or pressure to form articles of desiredshape. A further object of our invention is to prepare a textilematerial whose face has the normal appearance of woven or knitted fabricbut which is more or less impervious to moisture or water.

Further objects of our invention will appear from the following detaileddescription.

The preparation of a stifi fabric that is satisfactory for all generalpurposes is a matter of considerable importance. We have found that if afabric, sheet or film containing an organic derivative of cellulose isbrought together with a fabric of any suitable nature, and the assemblyis pressed under such conditions that the fabric or film containingorganic derivatives of cellulose is caused to dissolve or melt andcoalesce to the other fabric, there is produced a fabric that is stiffand more or less impermeable to water and having a face which has thenormal appearance of textile fabrics.

In accordance with our invention, we prepare a stiff fabric by placing afabric, sheet, film or foil containing organic derivatives of cellulosein juxtaposition to a fabric of any suitable kind and subjecting theassembly to such conditions that the layer containing the organicderivative of cellulose is caused to coalesce, dissolve or melt andbecome anchored to the fabric that is to form the surface of thefinished article.

The sheet-like material that is caused to melt, dissolve or coalesce maybe of any form. Thus it may be a fabric containing yarns of organicderivatives of cellulose or it may be sheets, films,

thin foils, artificial straws and the like containing such organicderivatives of cellulose. The organic derivatives of cellulose may beany suitable ones such as organic esters of cellulose or-celluloseethers. Examples of organic'esters of cellulose are cellulose acetate,cellulose formate, cellu lose propionate and cellulose butyrate whileexamples of cellulose ethers are ethyl cellulose, methyl cellulose andbenzyl cellulose.

The fabric that is to form the face of the finished fabric, and to whichthe sheet-like material containing organic derivatives of cellulose iscaused to adhere, may be made of yarns of any character. Thus the fabricmay consist wholly of warns of any of the organic derivatives ofcellulose above mentioned, or it may contain such yarns in admixturewith yarns of other fibres such so as cotton, natural silk,reconstituted cellulose or wool. If desired this fabric may consistwholly of yarns other than organic derivatives of cellulose. In order toobtain desired colored effects, this fabric may be previously dyed orprinted in 55 any desired manner.

In carrying out the process, the fabric, sheet, film or foil containingorganic derivatives of cellulose that is to be coalesced to the otherfabric comprising the face of the finished .material, may be wetted witha solvent or a latent solvent and placed next to such other fabric, andthe assembly pressed by suitable 'means such as calender rolls which mayor may not be heated. Any solvent or latent solvent may be used,examples of 'which :5

are acetone, methyl alcohol, or relatively nonvolatile solvents orplasticizers. such as para toluene sulfonamide, dibutyl tartrate,diethyl phthalate, etc. If desired the use of a solvent or latentsolvent may be dispensed with and s0 coalescence obtained by theemployment of heated pressing devices. If heat alone is employed, it ispreferably applied only to the fabric or sheet to be melted andcoalesced in cases where the fabric that is to form the face of thefinished fabric alsocontains organic derivatives of cellulose. To obtainfurther stiffening effect, organic derivatives of cellulose may bedissolved in the solvents or latent solvents that are applied.

' In carrying out our invention, the material may be made of any numberof plies, which may be more than two if desired. Thus we may coalesce orcause to adhere to each other several layers of fabric, arranging themso that there is always at least one layer of fabric or sheet containingorganic derivatives of cellulose that is to be coalesced, between thelayers of the other fabric. If desired the finished product may haveboth surfaces or faces thereof composed of fabrics that have not beencoalesced, thus giving a woven or knitted textile fabric appearance toboth surfaces. Since the materials produced by the process of ourinvention possess the thermoplastic properties of organic esters ofcellulose, designs and the like may be embossed on the same by pressingthem between heated embossing plates, rollersor similar devices. Suchembossing process may be carried out either in conjunction with thecoalescing process or in a separate process either prior or subsequentto the coalescing process.

The thermoplastic nature of the materials employed may be advantageouslyused in shaping or moldingthe material into desired shape. Thus if theassembly of the materials to be coalesced is pressed between molds whichmay or may not be heated, the fabric is caused to assume the desiredshape simultaneous with coalescing. If desired the fabric, after it hasbeen formed, may be molded in a suitable manner to the desired shape. Anexample of producing the desired shape is the formation of hats and thelike. Even when a fabric is employed that does not contain thermoplasticderivatives of cellulose, because of the presence of the same in thecoalescing sheet or fabric, the product may be molded with substantiallythe same facility as those composed entirely of organic derivatives ofcellulose,

since the organic derivative of cellulose that is present is sufficientto control the molding and shaping of the complete product.

It is also possible, in the process of our invention, to effect theprinting of patterns or designs onto the materials while the coalescenceis being effected. This maybe done by engraving suitable designs on thesurface of the pressing device and employing a suitable printing pasteto fill the engraved portion of such surface as in ordinary printingoperations. When such surface is brought in contact with the materialsto be printed, the dye paste is transferred to the same whereupon dyeingis effected, which dyeing may be made. more permanent by steaming thematerial in an ager.

If it is desired to dye the material simultaneous with the coalescingprocess, suitable dyestuffs may be dissolvedin the solvent or latentsolvent that is applied to cause coalescence. Many ornamental effectsmay be obtained by employing a film or foil containing organicderivatives of cellulose in conjunction with the fabric. Thus if afabric of open mesh or of thin construction such as voile is caused toadhere to a film or sheet containing organic derivatives of cellulosewhich has been prepared so as to have a grain, marble or nacreous effectthere is produced a material in which the color effects of the film orsheet show through the face of the fabric.

By theprocess 'of our invention there is pro-, duceda textile materialof desired stiffness having at least one face thereof of the normalappearance of a woven, knittedor other textile fabric. The product isone well coalesced material and can not .be parted by wear, folding orsevere treatment.-

Holes may bepunched or otherwise made therein without any fraying at theedges of such holes either in the cutting of the holes or in subsequentwear. Dirt cannot penetrate through such fabric, and the material, whencoalescence is complete and continuous, is extremely water proof and mayeven be employed for making containers for water or other liquid. Thematerial has the usual thermoplastic properties of organic derivativesof cellulose and may thus be molded into any desired shape. Since thefabric surfaces are well held in position by the coalescence they may bebrushed vigorously without losing shape or without the designs that. maybe printed thereon becoming deformed.

The fabric'made in accordance with our invention may be employed in manyuses. It may be out into relatively thin strips and such strips may beemployed as artificial straw, in the making of braids for bats, etc. Thefabric in the wide form may be employed for making hats and as stifien=ing materials in making garments and for any other'purposes such as forthe manufacture of purses, handbags, artificial flowers, bathing bags,rainshields. Their hard wearing propertiesrender them quite suitable forfloor coverings in which many beautiful effects may be obtained by theimposing of a fabric on the surface which has a pile. This process mayalso be employed to produce material to replace linoleum and likematerials.

A very useful property of the products of our invention is that inshaping, forming and printing, it is not at all necessary to sew thejoints. These joints may be formed by dampening with solvents or liquidswhich become solvents for the organic derivatives of cellulose andpressing the edges to be joined together at ordinary or elevatedtemperatures. The joints may also be formed by applying a solution of anorganic derivative of cellulose .in a suitable volatile solvent to theparts to'be joined.

In order further to illustrate our invention but without being limitedthereto, the following specific examples are given.

Example 1 construction and on its passage to the calender rolls, iswetted by means of a felt roll or other suitable device with methylalcohol. The

other fabric is of satin construction and is not wetted with the methylalcohol. As the assembly of fabrics reach the hot rolls, the methylalcohol becomes a solvent for the cellulose acetate and the solventaction is such as to cause the wetted fabric partly to dissolve andcoalesce and to be pressed well into one face of the unwetted fabric.The outer surface of the unwetted fabric retains its original wovenappearance.

I If instead of methyl alcohol, a mixture of parts by weight of acetoneand 10 parts by weight of water are employed, substantially identicalresults are obtained. If in this case, the rolls are not heated, theresultant fabric is somewhat softer in handle.

Example If This is an example wherein coalescing and shaping take placesimultaneously. The process is carried out in a manner similar to thatdescribed in Example -I, with the exception that instead of employingcalender rolls, a hat shaping I press, such as is employed in shapingfelt hats at elevated temperatures, is used. Preferably one layer of thefabric is wetted with para toluene sulfonamid, say in amounts equal to25% of the weight of the fabric, and the so wettedfabric is laid overthe other piece of fabric and the two pressed in the hat shapingdeviceat elevated temperatures. The result is that the two layers offabric'coalesce together and the face of the fabric which was not wettedbefore coalescing has a woven fabric appearance and the other face hasan appearance midway between that of a fabric and a film.

The fabric so formed is somewhat more flexible in handle than fabricsformed using volatile solvents, since the para toluene sulfonamid hasplastifying or softening powers. If the slight increased suppleness isnot required, this softener may be washed out with an appropriatesolvent such as benzene.

Example III In order to print the fabric simultaneously with thecoalescing process, the process of Example I is carried out with theexception that an engraved printing roller is substituted for one of thecalender rollers. This roller is preferably not heated. Any suitableprinting paste may be employed an example of which is:

'. Parts by weight Gum tragacanth 40 Ethylene dichloride 20 Di(methylamino) anthraquinone 0.5 Water 75.5

Di (methylamino) anthraquinone is a blue dyestuff and is first dissolvedin the ethylene dichloride and then all the ingredients are emulsifiedto a homogeneous condition.

In feeding the fabrics to the rolls, the fabric which is not wetted iscaused to come in contact with the unheated printing roll. The result ofthis process is that the woven fabric-like surface has a design printedon the one face and this design is of permanent nature. The gumtragacanth employed as thickener may be scoured off or brushed off asconvenient.

Example IV in intimate contact and exert pressure on the fabric betweenthem. The design of the rolls may be any suitable one such as to producereptile skin effect and the like.

Example V y Often it is not desired to effect coalescence of the twofabrics over their entire surface. In

this case two layers of fabric of yarns of organic derivatives ofcellulose are employed as before but the one that is wetted with thesolvent or latent solvent is so wetted only-locally. This may be done byemploying a wetting device which consists of a roll having a design ofwool-felt raised thereon. This roll rotates at a peripheral speed equalto that of a linear speed of the fabric and dips into a troughcontaining acetone or any other solvent or latent solvent. In thismanner the acetone is applied in pattern effect on the fabric, and whenthis fabric is pressed to the other fabric, the fabrics coalesce only atthe wetted places. The product presents a very useful and novel effectand is particularly applicable for making hats. I

If desired the design of the printing rolls may be that of stripes andin this manner there is produced a fabric which is coalesced along suchstripes.

It is to be understood that the foregoing detailed description is givenmerely by way of illustration and that many variations may be madetherein without departing from the spirit of our invention.

Having described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. Method of preparing articles of manufacture, comprising placing afabric containing yarns of organic derivatives of cellulose injuxtaposition to another fabric and pressing with an embossing device soas simultaneously to emboss and to cause the yarns of organicderivatives of cellulose at least partially to coalesce and to adhere tosaid other fabric at the embossed portions only.

2. Method of preparing articles of manufacture, comprising placing afabric containing yarns of cellulose acetate in juxtaposition to anotherfabnic and pressing with an embossing device so as simultaneously toemboss and to cause the yarns of cellulose acetate at least partially tocoalesce and to adhere to said other fabric at the embossed portionsonly.

3. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric containing yarns oforganic derivatives of cellulose having embossed portions and havingbound thereto at the embossed portions only a layer of another fabric.

4. An article of manufacture comprising a fabric containing yarns ofcellulose acetate havin embossed portions and having bound thereto atthe embossed portions only a layer of another fabric.

stiff and one face thereof having the appearance

